The Champion's League
by Skylar Windsong
Summary: The Champion's League has one rule. You murder, you live. Twenty-four go in, one comes out. Misty Waterflower volunteers to save her sister Leaf. For her, her family and the audience, it looks like certain death. But Misty is smart. She's been on verge of death before. She can survive. She can fight. They'd better watch out.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyody! This is my first story so please be nice. A while ago I was wondering hat it would be like if Misty was Katniss, Ash was Peeta, The Hunger Games was set in Pokémon, etc. And then I wrote a story for it. I've currently only got a few chapters and the uploading pattern will be irregular, but it should be okay. It will be close to the story until the 'League' itself but I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: People who are richer than me own Pokémon and Hunger Games**

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**_Part One - The Girl_**

**Chapter One**

The bed is cold and I cannot feel my sister's body curled up next to me like it usually is. She has definitely climbed into our mother's bed. Of course she did. She must have had nightmares. Today is Reaping Day. Any twelve-year old who has been entered for the first time would have them. I roll over on to my left side and sure enough; I can see Leaf's tiny form curled up next to my mother's. They look alike whereas I have inherited my father's red hair and aqua eyes. I smile at the cute sight before me. Leaf's brown hair looks dull in the dark but when she is in the sun it reflects all kinds of colours. And her eyes are a bright green that earned her her name. Mother was beautiful once but now she only looks worn down. The Strand does that to a person.

At Leaf's feet sits a mangled old Purugly. It's thinner than most of its kind but it is still fat. Leaf brought him home when she was eight. I hated him the moment I first saw him. Mangled ear and paws, matted fur, full of vermin. What was there to like? But Leaf insisted he could be useful and after Mother did clean him up he was an excellent Rattatta catcher... so I let him stay. Although I almost did drown him at first. But now I give him the scraps of my kills and he stops scratching me. The joys of love.

I drag myself from the little warmth in my bed and pull on some worn trousers, a shirt, a jumper and my favourite pair of hunting boots. They're a little worn but I love them still. It is one of the few things I have left of my father's; he was killed four years ago. To complete my look I scrape my orange hair into a ponytail on the side of my head and throw on my hunting jacket. On our table is some bread and cheese, a gift from Leaf. I grab them and my game bag. Thank you Leaf.

Outside there is an eerie quiet. Normally our part of Cerulean is full of people; children going to school, quarrymen and women to work. But today the Strand shows none of the early morning rush. Today is the day everyone sleeps in. Today is Reaping Day. For two children this will be their last day here. Everyone wants to sleep for as long as possible so they have energy to face the worst. Shutters are closed on the small houses. Nobody wants to be outside. Except me.

Our house is in the western end of the Strand which circles around Cerulean. This means I won't have to go far until I reach the field that separates our homes from the fence and the wood. Encompassing the entirety of Cerulean is a chain link fence which is supposed to have electricity running through 24/7. Supposed. It only has it rarely, which allows me out. Out into the woods. The woods are full of wild and dangerous Pokémon but if you have the ability to know when not to bother them, you can stay safe. There is food here and I can find it. I can and my father could too. He taught me how until he was incinerated in a quarry incident. Even now I can still see the worn face of the quarry head, distressed as he delivers the bad news...

What I am doing is technically illegal but I have never been caught. Poaching itself is a death penalty but anybody who has the means to do so will. Not that anyone does. My knife and bow are rarities. But teamed with my Corsola they can even take down a Stantler. I laugh as I think of the people in faraway Indigo, where Kanto is ruled. They think they own everything here but they don't. I am one of the ones who can say in safe company that they are proof.

I reach a small clearing in the woods. There is already a figure standing there. My hunting partner, Gary. He's annoying as hell half the time but I trust him. The two of us have been hunting together for several years now. Next to him is his Umbreon. I smile and call out Corsola from her Pokéball. Gary laughs.

"Your brain must be all fogged up for you to forget Corsola!" he laughs.

"Shut up," I snap with a mock glare for added effect.

Gary just laughs harder. Eventually I join in. When I'm with Gary it makes me lose some of the stone cold persona everyone associates with me.

"Guess what I caught," he says, holding up a small pie. I grab it out of his hands.

"Arceus! Gary you must have been up at dawn to trade! Did you get your own?" he nods as I ask.

"One Spinda for the both of them. He was feeling sentimental today. Old fool," Gary laughs, talking about the baker.

I roll my eyes, then toss him half of the cheese Leaf gave me. He smiles at it. Gary already knows that Leaf made it with the milk from the Miltank I rescued for her. We sit down next to each other and eat the small meal. Breakfast never tasted better. Gary suddenly sits up a little straighter.

"Happy Champion's League!" he says, mimicking Lilian Meridian, the escort for Cerulean.

"And may luck be forever on your side!" I finish, also in an Indigo accent.

This small amount of laughter we share is better than being scared stiff. The Indigo accent is so funny anyway, all high pitched and Lilian is so manic and hyper all the time she is _perfect_ to mimic. Suddenly the laughter dies away as we remember what today is and the hard, twisting reality of it all sinks in.

Gary and I have the same skin tone and face shape. But we aren't related. The quarry families all resemble each other in this way. But Mother and Leaf stand out with their heart shaped faces and pale skin. This is because Mother was once a merchant, the small upper class. Her family ran the apothecary. Apothecaries are our live savers. Doctors will only tend to a person for free if it's an emergency. Father met Mother when he would bring herbs he found on hunts. She must have loved him immensely in order to leave the merchants. It must have been why she sank into depression. So when all I see is the woman who stood by as her daughters starved, I try and forgive her for my father's sake.

We eat quickly and then get down to business. Checking the snares. As we check the fourth one, Gary starts to look a bit solemn. At least for him.

"We could do it you know," he says quietly. I look at him in confusion.

"Do what? Gary I'm not a mind reader," I remind him, laughing. He doesn't join in.

"Run away. Into the woods," he replies. I stop my laughter and stare at him. "If we didn't have the tribes."

'The tribes' is our nickname for our families. Mother and Leaf for me; Gary's mother and three younger siblings for him.

"We wouldn't make it," I say. While we don't have to guard our tongues in the woods, I don't like this talk.

"We could."  
"No."  
"If we didn't live here, we could have done it. Could even have kids of our own if we wanted."

"Reality check. We do live here."

"Shut it Foggy," Gary snaps. I shoot a mock glare at him and then laugh.

"My name is Misty!" I yell. He laughs too but I can still see a faint trace of anger in his eyes.

How could I leave? Leaf... a small, skinny twelve-year old whom is afraid of even the smallest of things. She depends on me. As much as I want to get out of Cerulean, I can't. We only manage with the food we get now. How could Gary and I feed all of those children? And there are still the nights we go hungry. Still the nights we curl up to try and ignore the pain. And... this talk of kids? There has _never_ been anything romantic between me and Gary. _Never_. He's two years older than me. When we first met I was the small girl of twelve and him the fourteen-year old who was already almost a man. It took us months to stop arguing 24/7. We only even became friends because the two of us had a similar backstory. No fathers and a family to feed.

We've checked all the snares. We have a Spinda and three Linoone. Not bad.

"Hunt, gather or fish?" I ask.

"Already gathered some berries. We already have a good haul so let's fish." Gary replies.

We head to lake. We grab our poles from the hollow they're stashed in and cast our lines. We catch a Goldeen each. Pleased with our haul, we decide that if we want to get some trades in we have to head back now. Reaping is at three. As we head back, Gary and I decide that the Spinda goes to the baker, one Linoone to Christopher, any strawberries to the mayor and we keep one Goldeen and one Linoone each. We both have some food stored at home as well. We both pause to check if there's any electricity running through the fence. As always, it's safe.

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If you were to ask anyone in Cerulean where the Nugget was, fifty percent would go pale and say they've never heard of it, thirty would stupidly tell you and the rest would try and suss out why you wanted to know before telling you anything. The Nugget is an old abandoned warehouse that was turned into a black market. People go there to trade. The term 'black market' makes most people shy away. But we never get punished. In fact, the Peacekeepers are some of the best customers. Ramen Chris aka Christopher runs a store selling ramen and soup. Gary and I go there first. He offers us some matches and a bowl of Deerling soup each. Good. The soup helps us eat away our nerves and the matches will help keep us warm in winter when it gets even colder.

"You two got any bad feelings?" Chris jokes as we eat. Gary and I shake our heads. While Ramen Chris may look like he's joking, I know for a fact it's his daughter's first year, so jokes are helping keep him sane. I like Christopher. He is the only person I can count on to buy Poochyena.

"I'll call it Miltank when it goes in," he'd say with a wink. Those in the Strand wouldn't say no to a nice bit of Poochyena meat but the Peacekeepers who shop at the Nugget can afford to be choosier. After we finish, we head to the Square. A stage has already been set up in front of the Peace Hall. Gary and I are the only ones out here. Even the Nugget was emptier than usual. We head to the bakery to trade the Spinda. The baker is there today and not his wife, thankfully. We get a loaf of bread each.

"Good luck," he wishes us. Normally we barely talk except for discussing trades. The joys Reaping does to strengthening bonds.

Our last stop is the Mayor's house. Mayor Maple has a liking for strawberries and blackberries, of which we have plenty. A bag each to be exact. I found the patches two years ago. I knock on the door. it is opened by the Mayor's daughter, May. May and I are in the same grade. We both rarely talk to anyone so we end up being paired together for everything. We aren't exactly friends in that respect though. Today the grey school clothes are replaced by a pink dress with a red underskirt poking out. Reaping Day clothes.

"Nice outfit," Gary says, not really meaning it. May blushes at his tone.

"Thanks. If I end up in Indigo I need to look pretty, right?" she says. Gary stiffens.

"You won't be going. You're sixteen, right? Your name is only in there five times. Mine was in was six times when I was only twelve," Gary says. His eyes are drawn to a silver pin on her dress. Silver. Could feed a family for a few months. May's blush deepens.

"It's not May's fault Gary," I say, the hint of warning obvious in my voice.

"No. It isn't. It's just the way it is," Gary says. His eyes narrow and I can see he is upset. May looks very uncomfortable now.

"Good luck Misty," she says as she hands me the money for the berries.

"You too," I reply. Her brown hair flies out behind her as she turns and slams the door. Gary and I trudge through the Square in silence.

"See you afterwards," I say.

"Try and look nice," he replies tersely, before running off towards his home.

Gary's outburst was a bit harsh but it wasn't exactly uncalled for. At the age of twelve, your name is only in there once. Each year it goes in one more time until you're eighteen and have seven slips of paper with your name on. Afterwards you no longer have to be entered for the Champion's League. But here's the cruel part. If you are starving and can't feed your family, you can put your name down for supplementum. Each supplementum for one person means your name goes down once more. You then a little more food each month. You can take one for yourself and each of your family members too. It accumulates each year. At twelve I was down four times. One because I had to and the other three were supplementum for myself, Leaf and Mother. At sixteen I'm down twenty times now. Gary is down forty-two times this year. So luck isn't on his side. May's family doesn't need any more food, so she's only down five times, as are the kids from the merchant families. Most of the Strand kids take supplementum. Leaf isn't, but only because I told her not to. We get just enough food to survive with me and Gary hunting. Leaf doesn't need to take it and I won't risk seeing her go into the arena. Gary often rants about it all.

"It's just a tool to cause contempt in the City," he'd yell.

I'd let him, even though it doesn't fill our stomachs. Better in the woods than the City, where you could be heard by anyone. Supplementum is unfair but when needs must...

At home I see that Mother has already prepared a bath for me. She is standing next to Leaf, helping her with her hair. They're already in Reaping clothes. Mother is in a floral print dress and Leaf is wearing a small green dress that I vaguely remember wearing at _my_ first Reaping. It doesn't exactly fit though so Mother has had to sew it up a little. I wash myself and put on the outfit Mother has lent me: a beautiful aqua dress that matches my eyes. A dress from the merchant days. A precious dress.

"Let me do your hair, Misty," Mother says to me. I'm trying not to refuse her offers all the time so I let her. She carefully does two small braids that lead into a ponytail. Much more elegant than my own ponytails.

"You look pretty," Leaf says quietly. I hug her.

"And you look radiant," I say. She smiles. A little confidence booster for her. She tightens the bow in her hair.

We eat the bread and some of the Linoone. The Goldeen we'll have tonight with some vegetables in order to celebrate that we're safe. It's sick but we are forced to celebrate on Reaping Day, and most do, glad that their family are safe for another year. Only two families lock the doors and windows, trying to think about how they will cope over the next month or so. At half two we leave the house. Leaf clutches my hand. Corsola jumps up and down beside me and Leaf's Eevee walks next to her. Everyone has their own Pokémon. You receive them at age eight. Mother has a Blissey. If a family takes in strays like our Miltank and Purugly, they aren't really yours. I plan to take Leaf and Eevee into the woods soon so that Eevee can evolve using this weird rock there. I once saw a wild Eevee evolve into Leafeon by touching it and the two have already decided that's what they want.

Leaf suddenly stops as we near the pens. She's spotted the blood check desk. By now Mother has already left for the spectator zone. Everyone has to come, child or not, unless you can prove that you're dying. If you're dying and an adult, you can stay. If you're a child… pray. Just pray.

"Misty! You never said!" Leaf panics. I grab a hold of her shoulders.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt. Just stings a little for a second. All they do is take one drop of blood," I tell her.

Leaf calms down a little. We queue up. Leaf goes first to get it done with. Then I go. A Peacekeeper takes my hand, pricks my finger and scans the blood. I see 'Waterflower, Misty' come up on screen. I go over to Leaf and point her towards the twelve year old zone. I myself go to the sixteen year olds.

Normally the Square has a somewhat pleasant feel to it. But now it feels cold and daunting. Camera crews sent in by Indigo don't help with that. They perch on the rooftops, zooming in on our panicking faces, hoping that they'll get a shot of the tributes. More and more people file in. It's a good way to keep tabs on our small population. People and Pokémon move through the crowds. The worried parents and those who just don't care anymore. The ones with nobody left to lose. They start betting pools on ages, Strand or merchant, their reaction. Nobody likes to take part in bets. They refuse, but carefully. Racketeers are often informants and nobody can say that they have never broken the law. I could be killed on a daily basis. As could Gary. But the appetites of the killers keep us safe.

Plus a bullet or Pokémon attack would be quicker than starvation. It only takes a second.

The space becomes tight and claustrophobic as the last few stragglers register. Any late comers who aren't required to register have to watch in the adjacent streets. The entire event is televised live. So that the people of Indigo can watch the action as it happens. Sick Grumpigs. I stare at the Reaping Balls. Twenty slips of paper have Misty Waterflower written on them, forty-two have Gary Oak, five have May Maple and only one has Leaf Waterflower on it. That one will never be picked. The stage also has a podium on it for speech reading as well as three chairs. One seats Mayor Norman Maple, the second the hyper escort Lilian Meridian, fresh from Indigo with bright red hair and strange blue outfit. but the third one is empty. It will fill up. Eventually.

Three o' clock comes and regardless of the empty chair, it is time to start. The Mayor stands up and makes his way to the podium. He tells the same story. How Kanto rose up from the ruins of a war torn land. He lists the disasters that happened. Earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts. The war for what was left. The end product of Kanto. The gleaming capitol of Indigo and the Cities. The so-called peace and prosperity. And then there comes the Days of Storm. How the Cities foolishly rose up against Indigo. Twelve were brought under control. Six known as the Johto third were eliminated. And now the Treaty of Treason, that forces a yearly reminder of the rebellion. The Champion's League.

It's simple. In punishment, the Cities must all offer up one girl and one boy, known as tributes. The tributes are then forced into an outdoor arena that could be anything from wasteland to woods to tundra to desert. They can all bring their Pokémon with them. Over several weeks, the tributes must fight to the death. Last one standing wins. There's just one will. Murder or die.

It's Indigo's way of letting us know who's on top. They're saying: "We'll take your children and kill them. You can't do a thing about it or we'll kill you all." If it wasn't already sickening, forcing us into watching children kill each other, Indigo makes us treat it as a festivity. A simple sporting event pitting the Cities against each other. The winner is showered with gifts, as is their City. The rest of us starve.

"This is a time for repentance and thanks," Mayor Maple finishes. We clap quietly.

He proceeds by reading the list of past victors. Cerulean has only ever had two. One is still alive. Bruno Siba. As his name is read out, he stumbles onto the stage, half-drunk. We clap politely. Confused by the noise, he tries to hug Lilian but she pushes him off and forces him into his chair. He is well built and obviously used to train in his sober days. He has long black hair and beady black eyes. The bad thing about Bruno is he is no longer sober. He's the reason we never have victors. Hell! He needs his Hitmonchan to help walk sometimes.

Mayor Maple looks distressed. Cerulean is officially the laughing stock of Kanto. The people in Indigo must be laughing their heads off now. Quickly, Lilian Meridian is introduced. She bounces up to the microphone.

"Happy Champion's League! And may luck be forever on your side! Now let's choose the brave souls to represent Cerulean in the 99th annual Champion's League!" Lilian says in a manic upbeat voice.

She says something about the honour of choosing the tributes but we all know she wants to be the escort for a better City, where there is actually a chance of getting victors.

I turn my head to look for Gary. I catch his eye. He smiles sadly, as if he is already expecting the worst. I wish I could tell him that there are still thousands of names. Still a chance. I turn back towards the stage. It is time for the Reaping.

"Ladies first!" Lilian giggles. She reaches into the glass ball. The crowd takes a sharp breath in as she picks. It is dead silent. I feel like I could be sick. She walks back to the centre and unfolds the paper. Lilian reads out the name.

It isn't me.

"Leaf Waterflower!"

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**And boom. Roll title sequence. I used Leaf because there weren't really any alternatives. I wasn't going to have Misty be the younger sister. She will be a little OOC for Misty, but that's because she's older than the anime version and has also had a similar upbringing to Katniss. But rest assured, that mallet will find its way in somehow. I'm not sure yet, but it will. Definite. Please R&R! I'll get the next chapter in ASAP! It should be in a few days because I've already written the first four.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there! Here's the second chapter! I think I've gotten used to the angry red line of the spell check not recognising my British way of spelling things...  
**

**REVIEWS:  
Kuragehime94: Glad you like it! I'm a Misty fangirl too. I knew that Leaf was definitely going to have an Eevee but I was unsure about Misty's Pokémon. In the end, it was a choice between Vaporeon and Corsola. I chose Corsola for her in the end because of the move Recover. This chapter should make it clear why but there's also an explanation in th Author's Note at the end.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Hunger Games, Prim wouldn't have died. If I owned Pokémon, Ash would have actually achieved something and won a league.**

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**Chapter two**

Once I fell off of a branch while waiting for prey. I dozed off and fell a good ten feet. When I landed I couldn't move and all the air left my lungs. Corsola had to use Recover on me. It still hurt afterwards.

Now I remember that feeling. I cannot breath, I cannot move, I cannot speak. The words bounce around my head. Someone is gripping my arm, a boy from the Strand who looks at me with worried eyes. Corsola uses Recover and suddenly I find myself no longer paralyzed.

This isn't happening! Leaf's name was one in thousands. She hadn't taken supplementum. I wasn't even worried about her. I took mine. She was supposed to be safe! Luck was on her side. I hear the whispers of the crowd. They look unhappy as they always are when a twelve-year old is picked. I see Leaf start to walk up to the podium, Eevee by her side. Her hair tied back with a green bow, the green dress creasing as she walks. I snap out of whatever trance I was in.

"Leaf!" I cry as she reaches the steps. Leaf turns around. "Leaf!" I run up towards her, Peacekeepers running towards me in order to stop me from reaching her. I struggle against them as they grab me.

"I volunteer!" I scream desperately. The force against my arms weakens. I take a deep breath. "I volunteer as tribute," I say, the screaming leaving my voice.

There is confusion amongst the crowd. We haven't had a volunteer in decades, nobody remembers the procedure. In some Cities it is an honour to be Reaped and volunteering gets messy. Not here. Tribute is synonymous with death. Leaf runs towards me.

"No! Misty no!" she cries. She flings her arms around me but I shove her off.

"Get off Leaf. I have to go onstage," I whisper to her.

She howls. I feel like howling to, but I can't. I can't cry. Not now. The people in Indigo would think I was weak. Gary is suddenly besides me and he picks up Leaf and carries her away. He gives me a solemn nod and tears are beginning to form in _his_ eyes. I walk up to the stage. Corsola behind me.

"Um, lovely but don't we need to ask for...?" Lilian trails off.

"She's volunteered. That's all that matters," the Mayor says wearily.

He recognises me as the berry girl. The girl May might have mentioned. The girl who stood in the Peace Building, collecting a medal in honour of her father, killed in the quarries. I survey the crowd. Leaf is still screaming in Gary's arms. Mother is sobbing in the spectator zone, another parent holding her hand. First she lost Father, now she'll lose me...

"Now that is the true spirit of the League! Well what's your name then sweetie?" Lilian asks. She seems glad to get a little action

"Misty Waterflower," I reply. I exhibit no emotion. Any weakness will be noted down by the other tributes when we watch the replay of the Reaping.

"Well I'd bet my Espeon that that was your little sister, huh? Well how about a round of applause for our newest tribute?"

Something unexpected happens. Everyone holds the three middle fingers of their right hand to their heart, and then extends their right arm out to the side. There is no applause. I feel like I'm going to cry again. This gesture is rarely used. It shows respect to the ones who are leaving, never to return. I did not know that I was so precious. The silence tells the world we do not agree. This is wrong. Cerulean is upset. Now that I am taking Leaf's place, they are unhappy with it all. Bruno stumbles towards me.

"Hmm. Lots of..." he pauses to find the right word. "Fight! More than you!" who is he insulting? The crowd or Indigo? As he staggers back to his chair, he performs a spectacular nosedive off the stage. The cameras all turn to him and I let out the breath I have been holding since Lilian put her hand in the Reaping ball. Bruno's stupidity saves me. I watch with some amusement as his Hitmonchan tries to get him back to his chair.

"Right. Umm... Let's choose our boy! Which one of you strapping lads is it going to be?" she says. Her voice seems strained. This wasn't supposed to happen. Lilian walks over to the boys' Reaping ball. Her hand hovers over it before plunging in. Not Gary. Please not Gary. I can't kill him.

"All this excitement and we aren't finished yet!" Lilian says as she pulls out a name. _Please not Gary_. Like she did with Leaf's name she walks back to the centre. The crowd once again holds its breath. Lilian opens the slip.

"Ash Ketchum!" she says cheerily.

Oh no. Not him! I have never spoken to him, we aren't neighbours. I have barely had any interaction with Ash Ketchum at all.

Luck is not on my side. I watch him carefully as he makes his way towards the stage, his Pikachu on his shoulder. Medium height, stocky build. Raven black hair that sticks out in unruly spikes. The shock is clear on his face. His auburn eyes show the alarm I see in prey that wasn't killed automatically by the snares. Yet he stays calm and doesn't struggle. Lilian asks for volunteers but there are unsurprisingly none. Ash has no siblings and if he did they wouldn't step forwards. Family ties only go so far with the Reaping. I did the radical thing. Ash's family runs the bakery, I know that. But I have only ever seen him, his father and his mother.

Mayor Maple reads the long, dull Treaty of Treason like he has to every year. I do not listen. I try to convince myself that it doesn't matter that Ash was Reaped. We aren't friends. But how can you kill someone who you possibly owe your life to? Ash has probably forgotten but I. Never. Will.

Picture this. You live in a place where the winter chills don't go until April. Your father was killed in a quarry accident. Your mother won't do anything except sleep, sit and stare into space. She barely eats. There is nothing to eat. That was what it was like for me when I was eleven going on twelve. It was just after Father's death. Mother had sunk into depression. We were given money to cover one month and by that time Mother needed to find a job or some source of income. She didn't. The money soon ran out.

It was hardest on me. I had just lost my father; now in some ways, I'd lost my mother two. At just eleven years old I was the head of the family. Leaf was only seven. We were literally starving to death. I couldn't tell anyone; they'd take us away from Mother and put us in the Community Home. I'd seen the kids who lived there. Harder than the rest of us and that's saying something. Their eyes are dark and lost, they hunch over as they walk. Some of them still bear scars. Someone like Leaf wouldn't last one minute. Leaf who cried whenever she saw something in pain. Sweet little Leaf who would still brush Mother's hair and try and coax her out of that ocean of depression she was swimming in... So I kept it all quiet. I would tell myself: 'April 14. If we could just hold on until then, we'd be okay. I would turn twelve and get my supplementum.' But when there are several weeks to go and you're slowly dying, it felt _very_ far away.

Starvation isn't uncommon. Not here in Cerulean. You see it all the time. Large families with too many mouths to feed. The old and the crippled who can no longer work. Slowly, slowly, they begin to wear away. You'll one day see someone in the fields, lifeless and still. Or you'd hear the moans and wails from a house, and the Peacekeepers will come to deal with the body. People who are embarrassed and ashamed will lie and say it was pneumonia and flu. But that fools nobody. Anyone who lives in the Strand knows what it is like to be starving. Most of us know someone who has died from it.

When Ash Ketchum and I had our encounter, it was raining. Three weeks to go until my birthday. I was cold, tired and hungry. It was market day and I was trying to trade in some old clothes of mine and Leaf's. There were no takers. I had been to the Nugget with Father before but I was scared to go on my own. By then everyone had packed away and gone home. The clothes were lying in a gutter somewhere. There was only one thing left to do: scavenge. At my request, Corsola used Recover on me so that I would have a little more strength. That was how we had survived until then. I began to hunt through the bins of the merchants. I just had to pick the day they had been emptied. Stealing was and still is illegal but I was desperate for any scraps I could find. The final bin I looked through was the baker's.

Again, it was empty. By now I was desperate. The smell of fresh bread made me feel even worse. The back door opened and the baker's wife was there, screaming for me to get away and that she was sick of Strand brats searching through her bins and that I was lucky that she hadn't already called the Peacekeepers. The words were ugly and loud. I had no defence against them. Behind her stood a young black haired boy with a Pikachu who I vaguely recognised from my year at school. He was wide eyed as he watched his mother yell at me. I staggered away and they went inside.

Before I was even three metres away from him my legs gave out. Corsola began bouncing up and down worriedly and I could see her straining to summon up the strength to use Recover again. I don't know how long we were there. There were yells from the bakery and something that sounded sickeningly like a slap. The door opened again. I began to pray for unconsciousness so that I wouldn't have to hear those harsh words again. I thought she was out there to drive me away with a stick.

"Stupid boy! Who will use burnt bread? Go feed it to the Bidoof you useless thing!" I heard.

The boy stepped outside and the door slammed behind him. He chucked a loaf of bread towards the Bidoof pen. He turned around to check if his mother was watching before turning back and chucking the bread to _me_. I studied his face. There was an angry red mark forming on his cheek. I was surprised at this; my parents had never hit me or Leaf. We stared at each other for a while before he retreated inside. Corsola found the strength to use Recover on me again. I stood up and grabbed the bread. It wasn't even that badly burnt; only the crusts were slightly blackened. Why this boy had given them to me, I didn't know. Did he burn them deliberately? Or was it merely an accident and a spur of the moment choice? I turned away from the bakery, away from the smell, away from the bread boy.

I ran home as quickly as my tired legs would allow me to. In one arm I held two loaves of bread. The other held a worn out Corsola. The loaves had cooled a bit in my arms but I could still feel a little warmth coming from the inside. When I got home Leaf immediately saw the bread and began grabbing at it. Carefully putting Corsola down on the table, I pushed Leaf's hands away and told her she'd have to wait. I forced mother into joining us. I sliced away the blackened parts and gave everyone some of the bread. We only used a half a loaf in order to save some for the upcoming days. It was still warm as we ate. That night I slept properly for the first time in ages.

We ate a little more for breakfast. Already I could see some of the life starting to return to Mother's eyes. Outside there was sunshine and very few clouds. A blessing after all of the rain. Leaf and I went to school as normal. At school, I passed the boy in our small playground. His cheek had swollen up and the bruise was an ugly purple. He didn't acknowledge me in anyway. Later as I collected Leaf, our eyes met briefly before I averted my gaze downwards. That is when I saw it. The first Oran berry plant of the year. The berries hadn't even started to grow properly. Something clicked in my head. The woods. The lessons Father had given me in hunting and foraging. I knew now how to feed my family. How to survive.

Even now I cannot shake the connection between Ash Ketchum, the bread that gave me hope and saved my life and the Oran plant that reminded me how to survive. He saved me. More than once I have seen him staring at me from the distance and as soon as he knows I have seen him he turns away. I have a debt towards him. I hate owing debts. They niggle away at you but by bit until you panic that you will never repay them. Perhaps if I had the guts to say thank you this wouldn't be so bad? I could never find the right opportunity, or the courage, to say it. Now I never will. We're going into an arena where I may just have to kill him. I can hardly say thanks when I'm trying to slit his throat or get Corsola to shoot at him with Pin Missile now, can I?

Mayor Maple finishes the long dreary Treaty of Treason and I decide I need to start paying attention to what's being said again. Ash and I now have to shake hands. We do so. His hands are solid and warm. Just like the bread. For the first time in years we look each other in the eyes. Ash gives me a reassuring squeeze. Either that or a nervous spasm. I am somewhat praying it was the latter. We let go and turn back to the crowd. Mother is still sobbing, Leaf as well. She's no longer struggling or screaming. Gary looks like he's fighting tears away. Ash looks weary of it all.

_"Who knows?" _I think. _"Twenty-four tributes. If luck's on my side, he'll be dead before I have to kill him."_

But luck hasn't been on my side though, has it?

* * *

**And there we have it. The tributes for Cerulean City have been chosen.**

**Recover: The way I see it, healing moves like Recover is a manipulation of healing energy. If the user concentrates hard enough, they should be able to focus that energy onto another Pokémon or even a human. How else would Chansey and Blissey be such great healers? We already know that Corsola can use Recover. It's gonna be useful later on for Misty and co.**

**Anyway, please review and I'll get the next chapter out within the week!**


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